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The New World’s Most Ancient

Astronomical Alignments: Buena Vista, Perú

Benfer, RA Jr1, Adkins, LR2 Ojeda E, B3, Duncan, NA1, Ludeña R, H3,

Vallejos A, M4, Rojas G, VH6, Ocas Q, A, 6

Ventacilla, O5, Villarreal S, G4

[Journal of Archaeoastronomy, in revision]

1Department of Anthropology, University of Missouri-Columbia, Columbia, MO 65211 USA;

2Department of Physics, Cerritos College, Norwalk, Orange, CA USA; 4Independent

Investigator, Lima, Perú; 4Museo de Arqueología, Centro de Investigaciones de Zonas Aridas,

Universidad Nacional Agraria, Lima, Perú; 6Departmento de Arqueología, Universidad Nacional

Mayor de San Marcos, Lima, Perú; 6Departmento de Arqueología, Universidad Nacional

Federico Villarreal, Lima, Perú

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ABSTRACT

The site of Buena Vista, Chillón Valley, Perú includes the earliest astronomical alignments in the

Americas and the oldest sculptures in the round in the Western Hemisphere. A Mito-style temple

and mud plaster sculpture at the Buena Vista site were associated with astronomical alignments

of calendric importance. The Mito temple at the Buena Vista site is dated to 2,200 cal. BC. Its

offering chamber is aligned with a rock in the shape of a human head on a ridge towards the

summer solstice sunrise as it would have been seen over a flat horizon. The actual summer

solstice is announced at Buena Vista by sunrise over a different modified rock. The alignment

includes six points of reference. An asterism precedes the dark cloud constellation of the Fox

over two modified rocks after sunset on March 21. A mud plaster sculpture, a menacing disk,

faces the June 21 sunset over the western platform. To the east, the sculpture has a summer

solstice alignment at sunrise with a rock on the ridge.

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This paper reports the recent finding of the earliest astronomical alignments in the Western

Hemisphere at the site of Buena Vista, in the middle Chillón Valley, Perú. These are multiple

astronomical alignments from two different structures securely dated to about 2,200 cal. BC

(Table 1).

The site of Buena Vista covers over 6 hectares. Its central region is depicted in Figure 1A.

The site is situated at the mouth of a usually dry ravine, a location typical for Late Preceramic

sites.1-2 The exact location, measured from a point midway between two important temples, is 11º

43' 52" latitude and 76º 58' 05" longitude (by GPS with 11 satellites), at 460 m amsl, 45 km up

the Chillón valley.

Although other archaeologists have mentioned Buena Vista,3-5 it was Frederic Engel who

first identified the site’s monumental architecture as being from the Late Preceramic.6 However,

the major wall alignments from preceramic occupations in Sector C (Figure 1A) have been

altered by a Late Initial Period (ceramic) reoccupation. Extensive looting and later construction

during the Initial Period makes measuring the orientation of the underlying walls of this portion

problematic. Therefore, this paper focuses on Sector B (Figure 1B), where later reoccupation and

looting did not destroy the orientations of subsurface features.

Preceramic architecture has long been thought to exhibit solsticial alignments,7 even though

the earliest temples appear to lack them.8 Astronomical alignments were used as a calendar by

the later Inca9 and continue in use by their modern descendents. Constellations such as the

Andean Fox are still associated today with solstices and lunar rises.10 The dark cloud Fox

constellation in the Milky Way is known by present-day peoples from the tropical lowlands and

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throughout much of the Andes where it is often associated with seasonal changes although not

always solsticial alignments.11-12

Constellation alignments have been suggested in Andean archaeology but not at such an

early date as the Late Preceramic. Quilter, however, noted a general architectural alignment of

walls at the Late Preceramic site of El Paraíso with the Milky Way. He also suggested a solsticial

alignment of walls.13

This paper reports equinoctial and solsticial alignments stellar alignments from two Late

Preceramic structures at the temple complex of Buena Vista. We describe first our measurements

from features in two different temples, and then present details of the astronomical alignments.

We also confirm the solstice alignment of El Paraíso.

The Early Temple Complex

Although the Buena Vista site shows evidence of multiple occupations over 7,000 years, this

paper focuses on the Late Preceramic component, the dark walled structures in the upper left of

Figure 1A, which are shown in more detail in Figure 1B. In this component, we have measured

azimuths from two structures: an offering chamber of a Mito-style temple and a Menacing Disk

sculpture in a second temple (Fig. 1B).

Solsticial and equinoctial stellar alignments relate to both two temples. The later Inca were

famous for their interest in and observation of the sun.14 Pino Matos studied the Inca site of

Huanuco Pampa, where the astronomical alignments are quite evident, because they were less

disturbed by the Spanish than those at Cuzco. 15 We date the beginning of astronomical interest in

the sun and in the constellations much earlier than Inca times, to 2,220 BC, and suggest the

initial alignments involved their use in an agricultural calendar.

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The Importance of an Astronomical Calendar in Prehistoric Chillón

The rainless Chillón middle and lower coastal valley and the adjacent and larger Rímac are

two of a handful of valleys in the central Andean region that have year-round water. Water in

these rainless middle and lower valleys is available in springs, swampy upwellings, and the

Chillón River itself. The river runs strongest in the austral summer months of January through

March. Its annual flooding may explain in part the ability of early agricultural settlements such

as Buena Vista to exist there. The need to predict this flooding may underlie development by

agriculturalists of a calendric system. Such a system would have been consistent with belief

systems widespread Andean, including ideas concerning the fox and its constellation.

The Fox Mural.

The fox is associated with plant cultivation and irrigation across much of South America

south of Ecuador.16-17 It is embedded in the Peruvian origin account.18 Andean constellations are

known from the Paracas, 19 Moche, 20 and Inca,21 cultures, and probably as early as 1,200 BC in

the Initial Period.22

We believe the Fox and Llama constellations are alluded to by the single mural found in the

temple at Buena Vista. Figure 2A shows this mural, which was found on the inner side of the

western entryway to the temple. We interpret the mural to represent an incised fox in a fetal

position inside a painted llama body. Figure 2B depicts a later Moche painting of a pair of foxes

that resemble the fox in the mural at Buena Vista.23 The Buena Vista temple probably had two

murals originally, one on each side of the entryway. Unfortunately, poor preservation on the

other side has left just large flecks of white paint matching the color found in the intact mural.

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The Temple of the Fox

The Temple of the Fox, named for its mural, is situated at the top of the principal stepped

pyramidal structure at Buena Vista (Sector B, Unix X, Fig. 1B). The offering chamber of the

temple contains a stepped-down structure (Fig.2C-D). Two features of this structure identify it as

a small offering chamber: its resemblance to other Mito-style temples.24-25 and the stratified

layers of burned organic and inorganic refuse and artifacts that filled it. The structure’s date,

discussed below, also corresponds to other Mito temples. A false “door” at the rear of the

offering chamber suggests a sighting device to the east (Fig. 2E).

The Archaeological Alignments

Alignment with the River Valley?

We had no astronomical hypotheses in mind for the temple at the time of its discovery. Just

the previous season, in fact, one of us had explained the probable absence of astronomical

alignments at Buena Vista to a student.

Although highland sites from this time period tend to orient towards cardinal directions,

Buena Vista does not. Other Late Preceramic coastal valley sites were usually aligned to face a

river valley. To the naked eye, Buena Vista appeared to have this alignment.

One of us (Duncan) noted during excavation that the temple’s offering chamber appeared

to point to a prominent rock on a ridge across the river to the east. Perhaps the builders had used

this rock to line the site perpendicular to the river. To test this hypothesis, one of us (Benfer)

measured the width of the original western entry to the temple. He then established the plumb

bob of the transit over the middle of the entryway and asked a worker to set the stadia rod down

in the middle of the west end of the offering chamber (Fig. 2D-E). The worker, unfamiliar with

the hypothesis being tested, did this while facing the transit, with his back to the rock in question.

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Benfer found the stadia rod, locked the azimuth on the transit at a value of 114º, and tilted the

barrel up. Remarkably, the cross hairs centered on the rock.

Examination of the eastern ridge showed this rock to be one of three, each prominent, each

resembling a human face in profile. The only other two prehistoric elements on the ridge were a

platform with three levels to the north and another in the living rock to the south.

Three Prominent Rocks on the Ridge to the East

The three rocks, each about 1.5 m in diameter, are prominent and clearly visible from the

temples (Fig. 3A). Figure 3A-B and 4A-C shows the three rocks, labeled A, B, and C, as they

appear from just north of the Temple of the Fox. The workman standing next to rock B in Figure

3A gives an idea of their scale. The aerial photograph in Figure 3B shows the position of the

rocks relative to those of the temples.

Rocks A and B may have been modified to present a peaked head (Figures 4A and 4B), a

style characteristic of later Chavín stone heads. These modifications attract the attention of a

viewer from either temple. We have reason to believe that these modifications to the rocks were

made purposefully. This metamorphized sedimentary rock contained fossils but no sediment

lines, so they do not deflect compass readings. They do not cleave in the angles presented in

Figure 4A and 4B. We found that, although quarries above the site have numerous rocks cleaved

in the act of quarrying, these rocks do not present planes similar to those in the prominent rocks.

Rock A shows the clearest signs of retouching; Rock C shows little if any.

The orientation of the rocks shown in Figure 4A-C suggests they may have been moved

and carefully placed in their current location. Their orientation is approximately towards the June

21 sunrise (Rock A, 240º, Rock B, 262º, and Rock C, 232º for an average of 245º; however, the

“face” of rock A is turned towards 184º). Builders of the monumental architecture moved large

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blocks of stone from the quarries above the site and would have had little trouble in moving

these stones from a quarry found just to the north to their present location, around the crest of the

hill.

The Sightlines of the Temple of the Fox

As described above, we obtained an azimuth of 114º by sighting with a transit midway

between the original western entryway and the center of the false door or sighting device (Fig.

2E) at the rear of the offering chamber. The local bedrock is metamorphized sedimentary fossil

bearing rock. Thus, the azimuths we measured from declination corrected magnetic north are

reliable. The temple sightline is 7 meters in length (Table 2). At the time of the first

measurement, in 2004, a choice had to be made between centering the Theodolite between the

walls of the original entryway of the center of the new entryway, narrowed by subsequent

construction. Benfer decided to use the original entryway, reasoning that the later addition might

be unrelated to the original temple function or orientation. At that time, he did not think of the

possibility that the change might have been due to precession moving a target star from the

alignment. As it is now covered with false walls and dirt, it is impossible to remeasure the

alignment from the modified doorway without reexcavation. Had he selected the center of the

modified entryway, about 10 cm to the south, the azimuth would have increased by about three-

quarters of a degree. In any case, the cross-hairs with the Theodolite in the middle of the original

doorway centered on Rock B, 314 m to the east. Alignments with this and other rocks on the

ridge, to be discussed below, are found in Figure 3A. Rotating the barrel of the transit from the

rock to the east, we found an azimuth of 294º pointed toward a naturally flattened area flanked

by rocky spires on a ridge. This platform, about 100 m wide, sits on the crest of the ridge more

than 1,800 m to the west across the valley (Fig. 5A). The only site near the platform, Las

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Hormigas, is from a late time period. On the platform’s surface, however, we found very early

pottery. Moreover, further investigation of the platform revealed evidence of extensive

prehistoric fires in the form of ash just below the surface.

This alignment caused Benfer to question his original hypothesis, that the site was merely

oriented perpendicular to the valley. The site is perpendicular to the river (Fig. 5B). However,

the finding of the western platform orientation suggested sunsets. Could the azimuths of 114º and

294º, Benfer wondered in his notes, have some other significance, possibly solsticial? He sent a

query on the subject to an astronomer (Adkins).

By coincidence, Adkins and a group of astronomers had visited the site just before the Fox

Temple was found. He and his group had then traveled to the Cerro Tololo observatory in Chile

where Benfer’s e-mail reached him. He responded that an azimuth of 114º was within one-half

degree of the winter solstice azimuth. However, neither a flat horizon solstice sunrise nor sunset

could have been observed from the temple. The ridge to the east of the site has an altitude of

about 26º and the most distant mountain to the west rises to 14.5º. To link these alignments to the

winter solstice, then, we would have to look for other indicators, such as markers on the adjacent

hills, or perhaps astronomical phenomena marking the solstice sunrises and sunsets.

Another discovery, however, made our search for such indicators a lower priority: the

Temple of the Fox was roofed. Hence, before proceeding with a search for outside cues, we had

first to establish whether the sky would have even been visible from inside the temple.

As far as we know, we are the first to show evidence that Mito temples were ever roofed.

We found a beam over the northern doorway and a large tree trunk (shown in Figure 2D) with a

base that had been cut flat and a top that had been left in a crook, presumably for supporting a

roofing span of cane. We had the tree trunk removed to the Museum of Archaeology of the

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Center for Study of Arid Zones of the National Agrarian University, in Lima for display, where

we measured it as 2.7 m in total height, 2.5 m from the base to the crook. We assume a piece of

cane at least 20 cm in diameter would have been required to support the span. The walls behind

the offering chamber of the Temple of the Fox were 1.7 m. The taller side walls, which

presumably supported the roof, were 2.2 meters. The difference in height would have left an

ample gap for viewing Rock B on the ridge to the east and the platform to the west.

As fascinating as these first findings were, they turned out not to be unique. The Temple of

the Fox was not the only temple at Buena Vista with potential astronomical alignments. In the

next field season, 2005, we discovered a nearby temple with a quite different structure but with

the same alignment.

The Menacing Disk Sculpture

In the nearby Temple of the Menacing Disk, we found an almost intact sculpture

constructed as part of a platform structure in Sector B (Fig. 1B). This sculpture is a Menacing

disk of mud plaster with grass inclusions, covered with painted fine unbaked clay (Fig. 6A-B).

Overall, its design is of unprecedented antiquity in the Andes. The figure may depict a menacing

or disconsolate mask. Masks are important in later Andean history and modern Andean rituals.

The mask from the site of La Galgada (where Mito Phase temples are also found) is also

menacing. 26 Moreover, menacing facemasks are still used today in Andean festivals.

The round appearance of the Buena Vista Menacing Disk could suggest the earth, the

moon, or the sun. The figure might represent the earth, Pacha Mama, if the site is dedicated to

her. Since such a temple has not yet been found in this valley, a principal site such as Buena

Vista is an excellent candidate site to yield one. If the figure does represent the earth, it would be

the earliest image of her known.

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Accompanying figures in the sculpture suggest representation of the moon. The disk is

flanked by animal sculptures that have crescent eyes (Fig. 6B), figures strongly associated with

the lunar cult in later prehistory27 and ethnohistory.28 Likewise, one of the accompanying animal

sculptures, the animal to the left in Figure 6B, resembles what have been identified as moon

animals painted on a Moche vessel, with different eye treatment on either side of the vessel.29

Figure 6B shows the Buena Vista sculpture’s western eye is a disk, while its eastern eye is a

crescent. Sculptural representations are also known from later Recuay sites.30

It is also possible, however, that the Buena Vista disk represents the sun. Several aspects of

the finding support this interpretation. The single round eye on its east side of the disk shown in

Figure 6B is oriented toward the rising sun. Moreover, the fact that the Buena Vista flanking

animals have their faces averted suggests they may be so oriented to avoid the brilliance of the

sun. It is a posture that requires explanation, as Moche pairs of similar animals do not turn away

from the central figure.31 Finally, the nearby site of El Paraíso has provided a disk figure dating

to the same time as LP Buena Vista whose representation is clear: the rays radiating from its face

make it an obvious sun disk sculpture. 32

Of course, other possible interpretations exist. The Menacing Disk might incorporate both

the sun and the moon into a system of duality. Duality is known in the Andes for both

ethnohistoric and archaeological architecture.33 In any case, it was obvious even during the first

stages of its excavation that the disk faced the setting sun.

Orientation of the Menacing Disk Sculpture

The central Menacing Disk figure faces west through an entryway that was later blocked

by construction of a stone chamber (Fig. 6A). We removed these rocks, which had been placed

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there in prehistory, and built a stronger wall to protect the entry against collapse (Fig. 6C). The

massive wall in which the entry way was found is quite straight and over 20 m long (Fig. 1B).

Because of the face of the sculpture has an obvious general orientation towards the western

platform, as shown in Figure 6A, we decided to calculate the angle perpendicular to the flat face

of the disk. The entry way was blocked by a supporting stone wall we had built, so we could not

see the western platform from our vantage point. Benfer asked a Peruvian student and a worker

to measure the distance between the two ears of the disk to the corners of the entryway. They

were accustomed to this kind of measurement for triangulation. To improve accuracy, they used

a simple line level to measure parallel to the horizon. Benfer recorded their figures, which are

presented below. The next year, 2006, Benfer returned to the site to measure the azimuth from

the disk sculpture to Rock C on the eastern ridge. He found the alignment to be 111º 18’ to Rock

C. Benfer repeated the alignment from the Fox Temple to Rock B. He found this azimuth to be

111º 30’. Benfer re-measured the alignment on two subsequent visits to the site; the azimuths

repeated the same values found the second time. We then made a plane table map of the rocks

and temples. We also found the same azimuth of 112º of Rock A to the Fox Temple and Rock C

to the disk (one degree accuracy is all that we claim for a plane table map).

Alignments Are Not Parallel to Major Surrounding Walls

These alignments produced an additional surprise: they do not match of the alignments of

the surrounding major walls. The only other case for an early solsticial alignment of which we

were aware, at El Paraíso, in the same valley, had been made on general wall orientation. In fact,

Preceramic sites are known for extreme symmetry.34

It was obvious in the field that the offering chamber of the Temple of the Fox did not line

up with its surrounding walls. Figure 1D, a map made with an Alidade plane table, shows this

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asymmetry. The Menacing Disk was also visibly unaligned with the walls surrounding it. We

measured the distances from the wall in front of the sculpture to each end of the disk, which

revealed a 6 cm difference between the north and south ends. This difference is not very evident

at the scale presented in Figure 6A. Other measurements by our crew, however, do express a

difference of almost two degrees in orientation between the disk and the surrounding walls,

slightly larger than the angular difference of the offering chamber in the Temple of the Fox.

Taking the north and south ears of the disk as points “a” and “b” and the north and south edges

of the entryway at the same level as “c” and “d”, we obtained the following measurements:

ab = 124.5 cm cd = 110.5 cm ad = 167.0 cm bc = 176.5 cm ad = 167.0 cm Using the azimuth of the long facing wall as a reference, we calculated an azimuth

perpendicular to the disk of 294º.

The disk looks to the east to Rock C at 111º 30’. Our 2005 estimate of its gaze—to the

west at 294º—was based on triangulation from the width of the disk, for which figures are

presented above. As Figures 1B and 6A show, and as the measurements presented in the

preceding paragraph reveal, the disk is actually looking more to the north than the surrounding

walls would suggest. This slight turn to the north makes the disk gaze closer to the location on

the western platform pointed to by the Temple of the Fox. Since the disk is 38 m south of the

Temple of the Fox, this may have been a necessary correction to align with the western platform.

The alignment of the disk’s gaze in the Temple of the Menacing Disk and the offering

chamber of the Temple of the Fox do not repeat the orientations of the structures in which they

are placed. They are, instead, oriented to point to specific points on the horizons. These

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structures are special features—an offering chamber and a sculpture. Their status as such

distinguishes them from alignments associated with general building placement.

Pursuing Stellar Alignments

Since the solstice sunrise and sunset at a flat horizon would not be visible to the priests at

these temples because of nearby mountains, we next began to search for harbingers of these

sunrises. We took as our primary analogy Urton’s observation of the association of the Andean

Fox (and possibly Golden Cat) constellation35 with solstices in present-day, central Andean Perú.

We are not the first to do so for prehistoric cases; Sullivan has suggested a heliacal rise of the

Fox at the summer solstice at a highland site of the Late Intermediate Period. 36 A better

comparison for the Buena Vista case, however, would be the Egyptians’ use of Sirius to predict

flooding of the Nile. 37

At Buena Vista, the end of December would be the optimum time for planting, with

flooding occurring in the coming weeks. Towards the end of March, the river would begin to

return to its banks for another year. The end of December is also a critical time for fishermen.

The coast lies but a single day's walk from Buena Vista. Although there is variability in when an

El Niño year would begin, the end of December is usually the best time to identify whether the

sea birds, seals, sea lions, and carnivorous fish have followed the large schools of small fish

north. Hence, important dates in the seasonal agricultural and fishing calendar at Buena Vista

correspond to the astronomical alignments we document for the site. The economic context for

these putative astronomical alignments would suggest calendric import.

To make a case for an association between constellations and astronomical events,

however, accurate dating of the two temples is essential. After all, the locations of constellations

have changed over 4,000 years. This paper focuses primarily on the Fox Andean dark cloud

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constellation, which is defined by interstellar dust lanes. Unlike constellations defined by star

patterns, this constellation’s shape has not changed appreciably over 4,000 years. This paper also

discusses an asterism, whose shape has, likewise, not changed appreciably.

Radiometric Dating

This section presents two dates for the Temple of the Fox and one date for the Menacing

Disk sculpture. These dates come from charcoalized twigs from actual stratified offerings in one

case and the grass used for temper of the mud plaster of the supporting platform of the sculpture

in the other. They are, except for one date from an Early Preceramic midden (not discussed

here), the three oldest dates from the site.

Dating the Temple of the Fox

Dating of the Temple of the Fox is unusually secure; plant, stone, and bone offerings were

present in a matrix of burned twigs, grass, and wood (Table 1). As discussed in this section, the

context and materials for dating help avoid the considerable problems that have been involved in

the interpretations of dates from other sites from this time period.38

We excavated the small offering chamber, which was 1.51 m deep, in five levels, all

remains of which were taken back to the laboratory. We excavated each level as a unit. We

numbered the levels by the system of the Centro de Investigaciones de Zonas Aridas, whose

units of 100 represent strata, with subdivisions of 10 referring to lenses within a stratum. The

#250 lens, corresponding to the first level encountered inside the offering chamber, extended

across the top of the chamber wall. It was covered with loose stones from looting, which

fortunately did not reach the chamber. Plant offerings were mixed in with partly burned grass

and some small irregularly shaped rocks. The second level, #300, was a layer of river pebbles;

the third, #350, was a mixed level of river cobbles with fractured rock fill and charcoal. The

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fourth, #400, included more burned and unburned plant offerings and charcoal in a matrix of

grass in a loose fill. The final level, #425, was a layer of grass that covered most of the floor.

In the laboratory, we separated the charcoal from plant remains. The radiocarbon samples

consisted of charcoal from twigs that came from levels #300 and #400 (GX-31276 and GX-

32177 in Table 1). We used the Calib program for calibration.39 To generate a best estimate

within the confidence limits, we performed a linear interpolation of available and nearby precise

dates by year.40 By this method, we found that the two radiocarbon measurements actually

estimate the same precision date rounded to the nearest decade of 2,200 cal. BC.

Dating the Menacing Disk

As mentioned earlier in this paper, the disk and its associated mythical animals sit atop a

platform in a temple at Buena Vista, which is near the Temple of the Fox. Plaster excavated from

the floor of this platform contained grass, which we collected in the laboratory to obtain a sample

for radiometric dating. As with the Temple of the Fox, we performed a linear interpolation from

available precision dates. The result indicates the Menacing Disk structure was built around

2,130 cal. BC, roughly 90 years later than the offering chamber of the other temple. The overlap

of the dates for the two structures (Table 1) suggests the two calendars might have been in use at

the same time. It is more plausible that this second part of the temple complex was constructed

shortly after the first had been abandoned.

The Astronomical Alignments

This section documents the astronomical correlates of the alignments presented in this

paper. Table 2 presents a summary of the alignments.

It was very important in our investigation to keep in mind how such alignments may have

changed over time. The sunsets and sunrises observed today from the pyramid have very close to

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the same horizon orientations as they did in the archaeological past. In contrast, the rising and

setting points on the horizon for stars and constellations have shifted extensively due to

precession. Over time, this shift effects a gradual change in the appearance of the night sky

visible to observers at a given latitude. Two examples from different eras at a similar latitude

(Mismanay and Buena Vista) illustrate this shift. At present-day Mismanay, Urton noted the sun

rises into the Fox Constellation on December 21. At Buena Vista in 2,220 BC, however, the

constellation would have risen about three hours before sunrise.

Since the dark cloud constellations do not have an obvious point of reference, we will use

as a proxy the three major stars of an asterism that precedes it in the three stars in the tail of

Scorpius. Although this may have been an independent constellation, the Golden Cat, as

suggested by Gary Urton, we do not belabor that possibility.

The Solstice Alignments

Before sunrise on December 21, 2,220 BC, if one looked from the entryway of the

Temple of the Fox toward the eastern ridge, the summer solstice would have been signaled by

the rise of the sun at 7:58 a.m. at an azimuth of 111º 0’ at an altitude of 27.9º. At 112º azimuth

and 27º altitude, 301 m distant from the entryway, sits Rock A (Fig. 7A). This 1.5 m diameter

rock would present a profile of 0.12 degrees, while the sun would have an apparent diameter of

approximately one-half degree. From the vantage of the western entryway to the Temple of the

Fox, then, the summer solstice sun would pass by Rock A about 0.4 degrees to the north.

The temple also shows a solsticial alignment with Rock B, 264 meters distant on the

same ridge as Rock A. Over a flat horizon, the sun would have risen on December 21, 2,220 BC

at an azimuth of 114.6º. The line from the two points of the Temple of the Fox pass through

Rock B with an azimuth of 114º at an elevation of 26º (Fig. 7A; Table 2). This alignment

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continues through two mines 903 meters distant (Fig. 7A-B), which had been identified earlier as

begun in prehistory by the presence of moluscan remains eroding out of a midden on the terrace

to the eastside of the larger mine. Quartzite, widely used in the Late Preceramic, is abundant in

the walls of the mine. In the early Initial Period of ceramics, quartzite was used for temper for

pottery. Quartzite was processed at Buena Vista in a special area for which we do not provide a

map here.

At 3:06 a.m. before the summer solstice sunrise on December 21, 2,220 BC, the Golden

Cat stars would have announced the imminent rising of the Fox Constellation. Two of the stars,

κ and ι Sco would have risen almost directly over Rocks B and C (see Table 2), when viewed

from the Temple of the Fox, before sunrise at 7:58 a.m., at 27.9º elevation. The sun, at 111.0º

azimuth would have risen to the left of Rock A, at 112º. However, accuracy closer than 1º was

not needed; a priest standing in the Temple of the Fox in front of the fox mural would have seen

the celestial fox rise, then fade into the morning twilight on the day of the summer solstice.

The Temple of the Menacing Disk shows a closer solsticial alignment with Rock C.

Before dawn, at 3:06 a.m., on the summer solstice of 2,130 BC, an observer standing in the entry

way of this temple, in front of the Menacing Disk, would have seen the sun rise at 111.0º over

the ridge at an elevation of 27º just to the left of Rock C, which has an azimuth of 111.5º (Fig.

7C).

The winter solstice sunsets, as well, are marked by alignments in the Temple of the Fox.

The alignment of the Temple of the Fox with Rock C is 118º. Therefore, looking back from Rock

C across the Temple of the Fox, we would be gazing west at 298º. The actual winter solstice

sunrise viewed from the temple would have occurred over an elevation of 14.5º from the temple

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at 298º 42’. This is within one degree of the expected azimuth, the accuracy we are claiming for

the archaeological alignments.

The actual gaze of the Menacing Disk was estimated as 294º from measurements taken to

estimate a line perpendicular to the plane of the face to the west. However, the same azimuth is

obtained by sighting to a platform carved in living rock to the east. From the disk’s line of sight,

the sun would have set over a flat horizon on June 21 at 5:51 p.m. at 294.3º azimuth (Table 2).

The sun would set over the actual horizon over a distant mountain behind the western platform at

14.5º altitude with azimuth of 298º 42' at 4:37 p.m. The sightline established by Rock C (Fig.

7A-B) with the Menacing Disk (111.5º)—a more precise calculation than measuring the

perpendicular from the disk’s flat face—would lead us to expect the sun to set at 291º 30’. Thus,

the disk could not have predicted the actual solstice sunrise. However, from the temple entryway,

the sun would have set just 8º above the line of sight to the western platform, over the distant

mountain on the solstice day. In any case, it is gazing at the solstice sunset, as it would have been

seen over a flat horizon, for example, over the nearby ocean.

The Constellation Alignments

The constellations would have been critical in indicating the summer solstice sunrise and

would have risen after the fall equinox sunset (Table 2). The stars κ Sco (112º 13’) and ιSco

(113º 47’) would have risen over Rocks A (112º) and B (114º) viewed from the Temple of the

Fox. The stars κ Sco (112º 13’) λ Sco (109º 29’) would have risen over each side of Rock C

(111º 30’) from the Temple of the Menacing Disk. In both cases, all of the stars of the Golden

Cat would have announced the rising of the Fox Constellation (Fig. 8A-B) nearly parallel to the

20

ridge (Fig 8C). The summer solstice sunrise would have been announced by the Fox

Constellation and the Fall Equinox would have seen them in the sky after the sunset.

Summary of Astronomical Alignments

Table 2 summarizes our alignments. On the date of the summer solstice, the sun would

have risen just past Rock A if viewed from the Temple of the Fox, and over Rock C if viewed

from the Temple of the Menacing Disk. Stars of the Golden Cat would have preceded this

sunrise at the summer solstice and followed the sunset at the fall equinox.

Previously discovered quartzite mines, in use until 50 years ago but established in

prehistory as indicated from shell eroding from an associated midden were also involved. The

alignments of 114º of Rock B with the Temple of the Fox precede to the prehistoric quartzite

mines to the east and the western platform to the west. The Menacing Disk aligns at 114º with a

platform in living rock, which is not discussed here. Both alignments mark the summer solstice

sunrise and sunset as would be seen looking towards a flat horizon, such as the sea. We would be

unable to explain this except by noting the 114º alignment to the east marks the rising of the last

star of the Golden Fox asterism (Fig. 7C). In any case, we will show below that the 114º/294º

alignment is present at another Late Preceramic site in the Chillón Valley, the largest one, El

Paraíso.

The orientation of the Menacing Disk sculpture is not without precedent. Solstice-facing

sculptures were erected in the Theban necropolis during the reign of Amenhotep, in the second

millennium BC. These sculptures were positioned to predict the arrival of the annual flooding

that permitted extensive agriculture.

21

Alignments at a Related Preceramic Peruvian Site

Although there are other candidates for solsticial alignment in sites near Buena Vista, we

here present details for just one additional case: El Paraíso, the other large Late Preceramic

period site in the Chillón Valley, situated 30 km from Buena Vista toward the coast. 41

The two sites, El Paraíso and Buena Vista, have significant differences. El Paraíso is

much larger than Buena Vista and does not share the same kind of Mito-style architecture

(though architectural similarities exist). Likewise, the offering chamber at El Paraíso is notably

larger than the one at Buena Vista. Still, the architecture of these temples from two different sites

is broadly similar, as Figures 1B and 9A show. The orientation of their stairways is the only

exception.

The structure presenting astronomical alignments at El Paraíso is the principal offering

chamber. In 2005, we used the large foldout map originally published for the site by Engel to

measure the declination corrected azimuth for its trend (Fig. 9A). The result, 114º, which was

very close to what was observed by Jeffrey Quilter, was surprising since, as with Buena Vista,

this solstice sunrise would not be visible from El Paraíso, which sits in a bowl of hills.

We tested the archaeoastronomical hypothesis that there should be points of reference

associated with the temple at El Paraíso (located at 11º 57’ 16” S and 77º 7’ 12” W).

In 2006, we re-visited El Paraíso. We wanted to use the center point of the temple and the

symmetry of the walls to point the theodolite to 114º. However, the reconstructed walls were too

high to see the adjacent ridges. These 3-4 m reconstructed walls are based on approximately one

meter of walls found in situ and are almost certainly too tall. Since the time that they were

reconstructed more than 30 years ago, we have discovered new evidence of other Late

Preceramic offering chambers, none of whose walls exceed a few meters. Accordingly, we took

22

readings from a point 3.93 m from the center of the offering chamber, towards 114º to the east

and 294º to the west and adjusted the readings to correspond to those we would have measured

from the center, absent the towering walls. To the east, we found a small rectangular raised

platform from the offering chamber with an azimuth of 113.6º on the adjacent ridge with an

elevation of 13.5º (Fig. 9B). Two of the three stars of the Golden Cat, λand κ, would have

risen on each side of the platform at 2:15 a.m. on the morning of the summer solstice sunrise.

Sunrise itself at 6:58 a.m. would have been at 112º over the ridge but 114.7º over a flat horizon.

Since the walls of the temple point to a platform that is approximately 114º azimuth, presumably

that sunrise would have been seen from the platform over another unidentified point of reference.

We also discovered a series of six earth pit ovens (Fig. 9C) at an approximate azimuth of

251.2º on another nearby ridge from the center of the offering chamber. The summer solstice

sunset over the 15.7º elevation of the ridge was 248.2º at 5:27 p.m. in 2,220 BC, a date, which

corresponds, to the Buena Vista Temple of the Fox date and early radiocarbon dates from El

Paraíso. The azimuth is approximate because there was no obvious place to set the stadia rod; the

worker selected Pit (Pozo) 2 (Fig. 9C). If he had selected instead a line to the west paralleling the

pits, the azimuth would have been about 1.5 degrees less, so the value 249.7º would have been

within one degree of the actual solstice sunset of 248.2º. It can also be noted that a line tangent

to Pits (Pozos) 1 and 6, which together define a rather definite western border to the earth ovens

(Fig. 9C), describes an azimuth of approximately 294º. This is the azimuth of the winter solstice

sunset, which would have been visible over the ocean to the west from the pits on the ridge.

Thus, fishermen knew when December 21 arrived without evidence of the problems of an ENSO

year. On the other hand, in years when the effects of El Niño were evident, increased payments

might have been made to ameliorate the effect. The site of El Paraíso deserves further study.

23

The solar-stellar relation astronomer that priests used to signal the events we have

discussed became more distant over time. Precession gradually removed these common

alignments as the Fox constellation drifted away. All the same, the constellations continued to be

used into historic and modern times for prediction, just as western astrology today continues to

use Mesopotamian constellations for prediction after millennia of precession.

Alignments Awaiting Further Study

As noted in the previous section, this paper does not discuss in depth other sites with

possible solsticial alignments. Nonetheless, there are several other candidates for solsticial

alignment in sites near Buena Vista that warrant a brief mention. Outside of the Chillón Valley,

for example, architectural astronomical alignments have been predicted for central coastal sites,

such as those for the zenith and nadir of the sun.42 Mito temples in the Andes at Kotosh and

Huaricoto appear to trend towards cardinal directions, although, as mentioned above, Burger and

Salazar-Burger suggested that equinoxes and solstices may have been observed there.

Possible non-architectural alignments at two other sites in the Chillón Valley warrant

attention as well. Campo Grande43 is a large plain that connects the Chillón with the adjacent

Rímac Valley. The site has geoglyphs that include long lines. The association of a solstice line

with a structure dated to the Late Preceramic has been cautiously accepted by Kelley and

Milone.44 Torre Blanco, just 15 km down the Chillón Valley from Buena Vista, had similar lines,

which might have astronomical significance.45 Both sites have been destroyed by urban

development but accurate maps are available for Campo Grande.

The Astronomical Complex at Buena Vista

The alignments found at Buena Vista point to two linked events in the Late Preceramic sky.

First, the asterism of Scorpius, the Andean constellation of the Golden Cat, announced the

24

imminent rise of the Fox constellation. After the Golden Cat’s appearance, the Fox constellation

rose over modified rocks before the summer solstice sunrise and after the fall equinox sunset.

Our calculations for the Golden Cat’s appearance are in close agreement with the algorithm

used by Starry Night modeling software. The constellation would have risen after sunset and

remained visible in the morning twilight on March 21. For example, we calculate that, at 5:53

a.m., κ Sco would have faded at 26º with the sun, at an ecliptic longitude 0.809 deg, 43º below

the western horizon.

The three stars that parallel the eastern ridge would have made a dramatic sight in the early

morning, December 21, 2,200 BC, regardless of whether the Golden Cat, Fox, or Llama water

constellations were recognized at that early date. The tail of Scorpius is a widely recognized

asterism, forming, for example, part of Station 6 of the Azure Dragon of Chinese astrology,

known from the Shang Dynasty (1800 BC). 46 A more compelling sign of recognition, however,

may be the association of the Golden Cat, Fox, and Llama constellations with the prominent

rocks at Buena Vista.

The mural found in the Temple of the Fox also presents a strong indication that its builders

recognized at least the Fox and Llama constellations. This mural supports our interpretation of

the temple’s function, namely, that it helped locate the Fox constellation at times of great interest

for flood plain agriculturalists. Dark cloud constellations, especially the Fox, are known

throughout the Andean and tropical lowlands as water and seasonal indicator constellations. The

rising of the stars in the tail of Scorpius coincided with the time when river flooding was about to

diminish in late March. It is difficult to imagine that farmers 4,000 years ago would not have

noticed this conjunction of events in the Chillón valley since farmers in the Nile Valley noted

that the solstice rise of Sirius was associated with flooding in Egypt.

25

The figure of the fox in the Andes contributes to this association as well. The fox is

everywhere in the Andes associated with domesticated crops; in the 16th century it was an

important mythological bringer of irrigation. Buena Vista farmers 4,000 years ago could not

have failed to hear the call of fox kits up and down the valley in late December. In some areas of

the Andes, the strength of their calls is used to predict rainfall.47

Conclusions

We have provided evidence that a Mito-style temple and mud plaster sculpture at Buena

Vista were associated with astronomical alignments of calendric importance. They are the

earliest known alignments from the Americas. The solar alignments at Buena Vista correspond to

two agriculturally important dates: the summer solstice for planting and the winter solstice for

harvesting. The evidence for the solar and stellar alignments at Buena Vista centers on two very

different structures, an offering chamber and a statue of a menacing disk. Both structures have

the same alignment. Azimuths from both are based on foresights and backsights.

Both the offering chamber and the Menacing Disk are offset from their surrounding walls

so as to make them solstice markers. To the east, the Menacing Disk structure is oriented with

the same azimuth as the Fox Temple. To the west, the face looks slightly more to the north than

an extended sightline from the eastern rock would suggest. This slight cant puts the gaze closer

to the platform to the west pointed to by the Temple of the Fox.

Buena Vista’s solsticial alignments are not unique. The largest Late Preceramic site in the

valley, El Paraíso, has the same 114º solsticial alignment of its principal offering chamber with a

recently discovered platform.

Findings from Buena Vista also suggest stellar alignments at this early time. The alignment

of both temples with constellations at the fall equinox indicates an architectural relationship to

26

Andean water constellations. The fox and llama mural in the Temple of the Fox shows an

awareness of this relationship. The fall equinox would have been a critical time for farmers,

indicating when the river would begin to fall and, later, when planting would no longer be

possible. The archaeologically established antiquity of Andean constellations supports the

plausibility of early, purposeful alignments. The continent-wide importance of the Fox in the

dark cloud of the Milky Way supports our interpretation of the fox and llama mural,

The site of Buena Vista also includes the oldest sculptures in the round in the Western

Hemisphere. This paper, however, does not discuss them in depth. Examples of spectacular low

and medium relief sculptures from the north of Buena Vista may be as old the sculptures in the

round from Buena Vista. 48 Still, these sculptures are not in the round. Likewise, these and later

sites with sculptures in the round, such as those from Recuay, 49 have not been proposed to have

specific astronomical alignments.

Possible Criticisms

It is a pleasure and a burden to introduce a new finding, especially one so unanticipated by

us. Obviously, new findings require strong evidence. In addition, we must try to answer

reasonable criticisms of our interpretations. This section addresses some of these criticisms.

Extinction could be a problem in some seasons.

In the middle Chillón Valley, fog is most prevalent in the winter, not the summer and fall.

Hence, extinction would not be a factor during the times of the summer and fall alignments.

Sight lines established by just two points are always questionable.

The two sets of alignments at Buena Vista are established by two- to five-point sightlines

(if the invisible mines are counted) with foresights and backsights.

Predicted alignments might be of stars or constellations obscured by dawn or dusk.

27

Our calculations and the Starry Night algorithm show that the asterism that marked the

head of the Fox constellation would have been visible after the sunset on the fall equinox.

How could such dim stars as those in the Golden Fox asterism play such an important

role in these alignments?

Actually, the Golden Fox asterism is widely recognized. The stars would have also been

extremely vivid to the naked eye before sunrise at Buena Vista, passing directly over the rocks

that resemble human profiles, almost paralleling the ridge.

If alignments are restricted to a single site, the case could possibly be anomalous as

Ruggles has noted.50

We have shown that the same alignment is associated with what has been considered

Buena Vista’s sister site, El Paraíso, 30 km down the valley. The multiple lines from the nearby

geoglyph sites Torre Blanco and Campo Grande are less persuasive. All the same, an alignment

of a principle line from a structure with a Late Preceramic date does not contradict a solstice

association.

Some famous sites (Chaco Canyon and Newgrange, to mention two) have alignments

based on reconstructions.

This is not the case at Buena Vista. Wall reconstruction at El Paraíso was not considered

valid.

Post-construction changes in alignment may have occurred at Buena Vista.

This is a common criticism from those unused to the spectacular preservation that occurs in

essentially rain-free areas such as the middle valleys of central Perú. As the photographs and

plans show, Buena Vista is extremely well preserved. For its importance and for its state of

preservation, it is now one of very few sites registered in the Peruvian National Patrimony.

28

Alignments based merely on wall orientations are suspect as indicators of a calendric

function.

The Capitol building in Washington, DC, is an example of such an alignment without

calendric function. It faces the equinox, as do many buildings and streets. Although such

alignments do indicate something of the cognitive mapping of the built landscape, they are not

normally used for calendric purposes.

At Buena Vista, however, wall orientation does not play a part in the early alignments. We

found the alignments from an apparent sighting device in one temple and the gaze of a structure

in another. Neither is parallel to surrounding walls.

Short sightlines do not yield great confidence in precision of alignments.

Although the original sightlines obtained by the Temple of the Fox and from triangulation

with the Menacing Disk were short, we found alignments of several hundred meters to modified

stone rocks to the east at Buena Vista and to a prehistoric mine over 900 m distant. These

alignments to the east are sufficiently long to provide accuracy to one degree or less. To the

west, we found sightlines of several thousand meters. Unfortunately, we were less certain of their

precise location due to haze except to a saddle on a ridge, which had evidence of prehistoric fires

just beneath the surface, itself covered by scattered early pottery.

Findings of alignments can result from bias.

Many possible sightlines are available from Buena Vista. A determined investigator might

find some that, merely by chance, that appear to have astronomical alignments. In our

investigations of Buena Vista, however, our initial bias was toward the local topography. We

obtained the first and most important alignments while following a non-astronomical alignment

hypothesis, namely, that such sites were aligned perpendicular to the valley. We also noted three

29

prominent rocks on the eastern ridge at that time but attached no astronomical significance to

them. In our first attempts at explanation, it did occur to us that the site might have been situated

to take advantage of a possible correspondence between the orientation of the Chillón River and

the Milky Way, as described by Urton. A check of the Chillón River orientation in front of the

site did provide a possible correspondence. However, finding reference points to the east and the

west, we began to investigate the possibility of astronomical alignments.

Perhaps more importantly, no member of the Buena Vista field team had ever had any

experience with astronomical alignments. Thus, we did not initially view the research as an

opportunity to find them. We found the Buena Vista alignments by the conscilience of two

different temple’s alignments, with different stone heads on the horizon. In the end, the evidence

for astronomical alignments from Buena Vista overwhelmed us.

Suggested alignments lack embedding in the cultural system.

We have shown a rich structure of ethnographic, ethnohistoric, and archaeological analyses

that locates the Andean fox at the center of irrigation, domesticated crops, and changes of

seasons. Our research here confirms Urton’s original finding of the relation of the Fox with the

solstice, with it having even greater antiquity than he supposed. The allusion to the Fox,

embedded in a Llama, in a temple mural makes the associations we have demonstrated even

more plausible. The solsticial alignment at a related site in the lower valley, as well as sets of

geoglyphs in the middle Chillón, suggests a general cultural pattern of astronomical alignments.

Precession makes proposed constellation alignments without secure dating suspect.

The three dates from Buena Vista are from exceptionally secure contexts, from especially

bias-free sources of carbon.

30

The sculptures at Buena Vista could not have been built as early as 2,200 BC.

One must first impeach the dates before dismissing them as too early. The Mito-style

temple date corresponds to dates from other Mito temples. It would be inconsistent to suggest

keeping the temple date while removing the sculpture date simply because such early sculptures

in the round had not been found previously.

The proposed astronomical alignments employ circular reasoning.

This is the reflexive criticism of proposed alignments. It fails to take into account the

success that epigraphers, linguists, and archaeologists have had in entering the hermeneutic circle

of ancient Maya thought and successfully translating the hieroglyphics. All the same, though we

have learned much about Maya astronomy from these translations, our research did not use

Mayanist methods. Instead, we tested a series of hypotheses, developed as the research

proceeded. We first measured alignments at Buena Vista in order to test the site’s orientation

against the river valley. We found the alignment of the Temple of the Fox, extended to the east,

crossed a modified rock, and to the west, pointed to a platform with evidence of prehistoric fires.

The line marked solstice sunrises or sunsets, even though these events would have been invisible

below the surrounding mountains. We decided, therefore, to test the possibility, suggested by

Urton among others, of prehistoric alignments with Andean constellations. As we were unaware

of the 2,200 BC locations of these constellations, we could not manipulate our choice of sighting

points to incorporate them into our model. The three rocks were marked in 2004 before we were

able to ascribe alignments to more than the central one. We did not measure precise altitudes of

the rocks on the hillside until 2005.

Of course, the evidence of the sun setting over that platform might not be considered fully

independent. Its location at sunset has changed only one-half degree in 4,000 years due to

31

obliquity. We could have noted where sunset occurred on around June 21, 2004 or June 21,

2005, when we were in the field. All the same, no one mentioned the sunset in notes, nor did

anyone photograph it, which we would surely have done if we were attending to sunsets.

Neither did we photograph the sunrise.

Likewise, the alignments we sent to Adkins from the field in 2004 were blind with respect

to the positions of the Andean water constellations. As we have stated, the locations of these

constellations were, in fact, unknown to us until we returned from the field in 2004, Therefore,

the constellation alignments cannot be cited as an example of circular reasoning. We also reject

the summer solstice sunset as affecting our investigation. Adkins had visited the site in 2004

before the finding of the temple. He did not come to consult about astronomical alignments, of

which we were unaware, but merely to visit the site on the way with his students to an

observatory in Chile. Nonetheless, a critic might reasonably speculate that the idea of

astronomy was placed in our minds by the visit of a team of astronomers.

Many poorly documented archaeoastronomical evidence reports present a “just so”

story, one that adduces just those facts that make a good story.

The economic association of the winter solstice and fall equinox could be viewed as

selected from a wide variety of facts. In a rainless middle Peruvian coastal valley, however, these

dates would have been crucial to existence of early farmers. Using changes in climate, flora, or

fauna to predict river flooding would not have been adequate, as the highly variable climate

could cause them to be a month early or late—a critical month for floodplain farmers. Local

conditions could not have been used to predict the timing of river flooding, with the possible

exception of runoff from the previous month. We found a positive correlation between

November and January runoff amount from data from the Chillón Valley in the twentieth

32

century, but the correlation was not statistically significant. 51 The river runoff of the middle

Andean coastal valleys is not connected to the patterns of the upper reaches of the valleys except

in El Niños Southern Oscillation (ENSO) years. It is in the upper valleys that melted snowfall

and rain normally provide all the water for the lower river. The climatic pattern of the upper

valley is in fact controlled by the Atlantic pattern. Local vegetation or terrestrial animal or

marine seasonal changes would not have been a reliable guide for irrigation agriculturalists. The

sky provided a more reliable guide to important seasonal changes.

Paleoclimatic data suggest a more pressing need for accurate flood predictions, however.

The climate in central Perú changed dramatically around 3,000 BC, becoming dryer, with the

exception of a brief moist period around 800 BC.52 ENSO events would have made the dryer

climate much more variable, 53 affecting fishers and farmers alike. Faced with the new challenge

of dryer, and more variable, conditions, with ENSO years more common, an astronomical

calendar would have provided reliable advance warning of impending seasonal changes.

Economic data relate to serious challenges faced by early agriculturalists. The flood pattern of

the Chillón River, like that of the Nile of ancient Egypt, made an accurate calendar necessary for

survival. The two most important seasonal changes in the year for flood plain agriculturalists

would have been the summer solstice and fall equinox. Although one set of summer and winter

solsticial alignments might not be construed as a calendar, the addition of the fall equinox, the

time when planting would no longer be possible, makes clear a calendric function. Of course,

this function would be one among a variety of ceremonial uses made of the temples.

The idea of a disk being oriented toward a solstice is novel.

The Menacing Disk sculpture actually has one famous comparable Peruvian case: the

Lanzón stone sculpture at Chavín de Huantar in the central Andes. Although the Lanzón is also

33

hidden from view, it does have a passage to the east, for which alignments with celestial

phenomena have not been published. However, there has been a recent discovery of a solstice

platform to the east.54 Buena Vista provides a mud plaster precedent for the stone Lanzón.

Statuary from Egypt also could be mentioned.

The number of points of reference is too few.

There are five points for the alignment of the axis of symmetry of the Temple of the Fox

with the rise of the Fox constellation at the solstice and equinox. The first is the center of the

entryway to the temple. The second is the center of the “sighting device” in the offering

chamber. The third is the modified Rock B on the ridge to the east. The fourth is the prehistoric

mine further to the east. The fifth is the platform on the ridge to the west. A sixth point, Rock A,

viewed from the entryway to the Temple of the Fox is at a different azimuth, one 0.4º from the

actual rise of the summer solstice sun. Other alignments with other rocks and the other temple

Menacing disk sculpture have also been discussed. Buena Vista has more secure alignments,

than any other site of its time.

Suggested Direction for Future Research

Our findings at Buena Vista leave a researchable question unanswered: Could the

astronomer-priest-builders at Buena Vista have discovered the effect of precession on the

constellations? Magli argues that there only exists good evidence back to Hellenistic times but

notes more research is needed. 55

That the builders would have adjusted to celestial changes from an earlier state is a testable

hypothesis; seven m of deposits of the stepped pyramid on the hillside remain to be excavated.

The depth was estimated by a test pit below the last set of niched walls (Fig. 1D) and another

available from a broken floor in the Temple of the Fox. In the second case, we merely excavated

34

two meters further to confirm that the net-bagged rock fill continued. The depth of the stepped

pyramid was further confirmed by measuring the scree of an adjacent alluvial fan and projecting

that angle down the hill beneath the Temple of the Fox. The test pit and angle suggest another 7

m remains before striking the hillside beneath the pyramid. Other Mito temple complexes show

ritual interment and building of new temples over older ones. If Buena Vista follows the pattern

of common Mito temple construction, earlier temples may be present below the Fox Temple.

Further research at Buena Vista should discover, then, how much knowledge the builders

of a series of temples accumulated over time. Four hundred years would be at reasonable length

of time from original construction to final use of the 11-meter tall pyramid. Precession would

suggest a shift of several degrees for the stars of the Golden Cat asterism in that time. We predict

that, if an earlier temple rests within the unexcavated portion of the pyramid, that temple will

align to different rising points of the stars in the Golden Cat asterism than does the offering

chamber of the Temple of the Fox. The earlier temple would have just those alignments that

would correspond to its date of construction. Like the winter solstice sunrise alignment of the

small chapel of Re-Horakhty at the Abu Simbel Temple of Ramesses II, the alignment of an

earlier temple at Buena Vista would not have to be aligned with the larger structure. 56 It is

possible that the surrounding walls at Buena Vista were constructed so as to align to the river;

however, alignments simultaneously with the river and solstices are not impossible, as the New

Kingdom temple at Karak shows. 57

35

Acknowledgements

Support for the research and conservation at Buena Vista was provided by grants from the

Research Board of the University of Missouri, The National Geographic Society, the Curtiss T.

and Mary G. Brennan Foundation, and student fees from three field schools through the

University of Missouri-Columbia, the Universidad Nacional Federico Villarreal of Perú, the

University of Illinois-Chicago, and Grand Valley University. We acknowledge the important

participation of the Center for the Investigation of Arid Zones of the National Agrarian

University at La Molina where our laboratories are maintained. Many others have contributed to

this project; Jeffrey Quilter shared some of his knowledge of the Moche and the Chillón Valley.

Miguel Pasos, Alfredo Bueno, and Juan Palacios shared their great experience. Henning Bischof

helped us with dating of comparison sites and other issues. A student, Shane Seitz, first

suggested the possibility of a astronomical alignments a season before we had encountered the

temples. The Peruvian Instituto Nacional de Cultura supervised the excavations. The helpful

criticisms of David Kelly, Giulio Magli, Karen Bruhns, and two anonymous reviewers are

gratefully acknowledged. Louanna Furbee critiqued several versions of this paper, and Shannon

Brown made useful suggestions. A report to the Peruvian National Institute of Culture, which is

updated with successive field seasons, is available in Spanish; that report and an early review of

the site in English by Benfer are available at http://rcp.missouri.edu/bobbenfer/index.html. We

used Starry Night Pro V. 5.01, The Sky, V. 5, planetarium software, and published equations for

our calculations.58-60